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Myles Gascoyne, 29, is a new media salesman. He chose to have a prosthesis - an artificial testicle - fitted in his scrotum after his testicle was removed.
'I was 26 and working on big game fishing boats in Australia. I was very fit from working on those boats; I weighed 14 stone. Even if I had checked myself, I wasn't going to feel anything there. The cancer presented itself as a lump in my chest. The Australian GP didnt know what it was. I went back on the reef.
'Five months later, back in Britain, my GP took a hormonal sample. The hospital did an ultrasound. It was quite mind-numbing. All I know is that guys can die from it; in men younger than 35, it can be quite aggressive and the cancer can spread quite quickly. I spent eight months in hospital without leaving. I went down to eight and a half stone.
'People worry, "Oh, will my hair fall out?" but basically that's not an issue. I had a complete orchidectomy. The way they do it is internally; they go in a little way up from your belly. There's actually no scar, because it's in the fold.
'I had a prosthesis, yeah, a rubber falsie. It's fine. I definitely made the right decision. As far as choosing the right one, basically there are three sizes - small, medium and large. You match it to your healthy testicle.
'Now it doesn't really look any different to someone else's and it doesn't feel any different. There's skin around it and it looks just like the other one. If I stood naked next to another naked man, no one would know the difference. I would look exactly the same.
'It doesn't affect me that much any more. It doesn't bother me. It is amazing how quickly the body can recover. I've got my weight and fitness back again. I have a girlfriend now and that's all fine - now the novelty value's worn off!
'And, yeah, it's not great for a guy to have to drop his trousers to be examined for testicular cancer. But then, some guys drop their trousers every Saturday night! After all, girls have smear tests regularly. If it means not having to go through what I had to go through, I'd drop my trousers every day.'
Testicular prostheses are made of rubber. Before they are fitted, they bounce.
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